I prefer lubuntu over the standard ubuntu. If your running an older system it is the superior choice as it is the same underlining system but is optimized to run much faster by using lighter faster defaults in the software distabution. A prime example of this is the choice of LXDE over Unity as its GUI. It uses the same repositories, the trade off is the look of the OS for better speed. I prefer the look of LXDE any way. It's windows xp like, but better looking.
I just did an install and added mame last night, here is how I did it.
- Go get Lubuntu at http://lubuntu.net
- Choose a 64bit or 32bit ISO and download
- Burn to a disk
- Install it on your PC
- Click on the icon in the bottom left corner, where the start icon would be in XP
- Go to system tools
- Open xTerm
- Type with out the quotation marks "sudo apt-get install updates" then hit return and let it do its updates
- After updates finish type "sudo apt-get install mame" and hit return
Once installed it will be under games. When you click on the start like icon, games should be second from the top.
Don't fear the command line. If your using a Debian based linux I.E. buntu, Zorin, Kbuntu, Ubuntu GNOME, raspbian, and you know the name of the program you want and its in the Debian repositories "sudo apt-get install (name of the program here)" is all you need to get started. I would recommend you stick with Debian based distributions I.E. any thing Ubuntu related for now.
The great thing about Linux is its free so you can try lots of different distributions.